I recently read, on an Amazon list of “Best Books of 2009”, of “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie”. It sounded interesting, especially since it features an 11-year-old precocious, mystery-solving protagonist who loves chemistry. On a trip to the library, the book was in the “new fiction” section, so I took it out.
What a delightful book! I so enjoyed reading of the adventures of Flavia de Luce, the spunky and brilliant heroine, as she solves the mystery of a murdered stranger in her family’s English manor house’s cucumber garden. Flavia lives with her brooding, introverted, philatelic father and her two older terrifying sisters, the self-absorbed Ophelia (aka Feely) and the book-loving Daphne (aka Daffy), in their historic and somewhat decaying manor house. Her mother has previously been killed in an accident. Flavia spends her time in her chemistry lab, and running under the radar of the adults in her life.  She is precocious, cunning, daring, and quite lovable. Bradley’s use of language, in particular his similes, had me smiling and at times laughing out loud. The mystery in this story kept me guessing, and the characters were well-developed and interesting.

Supposedly, this is the first of a series of books featuring Flavia and her sleuthing. I can’t wait for the next installment!

I give this book 5 Stars!

Coming soon: a review of “The Shadow of the Wind”, and I’m reading right now: Dan Brown’s new release: “The Lost Symbol”.